The landscape of North Nottinghamshire has been dramatically changed following the demolition of eight giant cooling towers at the Cottam coal fired power station on 14 August. The explosive event, a Guinness World Record for the greatest number of such towers brought down in one demolition, was witnessed by former employees of the power station.
The towers, each measuring 114m (375 ft) were brought down in a matter of seconds using half a tonne of explosives. The controlled demolition was carried out by specialist contractors Brown & Mason.
This is the last major stage of the decommissioning of the plant which operated for 51 years. EDF is currently exploring options for the future use of the site to see how it can be best employed in the UK’s energy industry.
Rachael Glaving, UK Business Development Director for EDF, commented: “Cottam has made a massive contribution to the UK, and we believe the site has huge potential for further development. We are exploring plenty of options which would bring significant opportunities to the area.”
The Cottam site was commissioned in 1968 and ceased operations in 2019. At its peak it was rated 2.0 GW.
